The National Offshore Wind Turbine Test Facility based at Hunterston is to be decommissioned, SSE announced today.
The site testing of the Mitsubishi turbine is due to end in this summer with the whole site decommissioning begining in late summer for completion by winter 2018.
Known as Hunterston PARC, the test facility has been home to a 6MW Siemens offshore wind turbine and the Mitsubishi 7MW Sea Angel turbine, in January 2018 SSE was granted a two-year time extension for the test facility.
The test facility was used to put the Siemens turbine deployed at the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited in the Outer Moray Firth through its paces.
SSE said that being able to test the 7MW Sea Angel at Hunterston has brought “major benefits to UK offshore wind research” area.
Steven Smilie, SSE’s Renewable operations manager, said: “Hunterston has helped keep Scotland on the map when it comes to offshore wind development and has provided a great service to the offshore wind industry. With offshore wind now being a much more widely developed and deployed technology, it is time for the site to be decommissioned.
“In the past six years the site has not only brought benefits to the offshore wind industry and economic benefit to the region, the communities close to the wind farm have also benefited from the Hunterston Community Fund which has provided over £250,000 over the lifetime of the project.”
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